India is the largest producer of milk which provides livelihood to millions of small dairy farmers. Globally milk prices have slumped and caused distress in the dairy industry. In this context it is important to analyze the reasons behind the same and how it impacts livelihoods and the ecology.

Key demand of the question.

The question wants us to dig deep into the issue and bring out the reasons behind the dairy distress witnessed globally, including India and also discuss how it has impacted the ecology of the regions.

Structure of the answer

Introduction– write a few introductory lines about the slump in milk prices witnessed globally, including India.

Body-

Discuss how the pursuit of creating surplus milk and dumping it across the globe has created livelihood crisis for small farmers globally. E.g mention the abolition of quota system by the EU; mention the Russian sanctions on EU milk; In such a scenario, dairy multinationals are ramping up investments in new economies. Their rush is destabilising local dairy sectors in Africa and Asia and pushing small farmers to the brink of despair; This milk rush is ratcheting up long-standing accusations that poor countries pay the price for EU farm policies crafted in Brussels; To further compete with farmers who supply fresh milk, these multinationals have set up plants where they reconstitute SMP, at times by adding some herbs, and sell those as “quality” milk; As India has not opened up its market to foreign MNCs, the later started exporting cheap dairy products to those Asian and African countries where India had a stronghold. Since 2015, India lost its largest export market of Bangladesh, Egypt, Alegeria, the UAE, Yemen, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan to the EU etc.

Discuss the ecological impacts of such practices. E.g discuss the welfare concerns of the dairy cows in the wake of industrialized production.

Conclusion– based on your discussion, form a fair and a balanced conclusion on the given issue.